Richard POV
We’ve been sitting in these uncomfortable chairs for hours. Mia is asleep with her head resting on my shoulder while my brothers are wide awake with me. I keep trying to push away the horrible feeling I have in the pit of my stomach. I take a deep breath, and Mia opens her eyes.
“Is everything okay?” She asks. I offer her a small smile and stand up. My entire body is aching at this point. We have been here for hours without news because we are not related to Layla. Her mother is on the way, and even though I said I am her fiancé, the doctor, and not saying anything. This is ridiculous.
I have tried to throw money around, I tried to offer a big donation to the hospital If they allowed me to go see her, but it didn’t work. My father kept asking me to stay calm. This is a hospital, people are sick, and at least we know she is
Layla POV“I open my eyes, and I find my mom sitting on a chair next to me. I frown and look around, realizing I am in a hospital room. I blink several times until my vision focuses but no luck. I lick my lips, but my tongue is so dry it feels like I have sand in my mouth. Argh, my entire body hurts. I try to remember what happened, but I really can’t.The door opens, and Louise walks in, followed by Mia. When her eyes meet mine, the biggest smile appears on her face while my sister stays exactly the same way. “Layla, finally,” Mia says as she ruses to stand next to me. My mom hearing the voices opens her eyes and walks to me, holding my hand between hers.“Oh my God, how are you feeling?” My mom asks, but as I try to speak, it becomes a little difficult. I frown as my voice doesn’t sound the same. “Relax, baby, you ha
Layla POV“How is she? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” I ask Dylan as he takes a deep breath after telling me that Jo spent Christmas in the hospital. We both had shit holidays.“You were recovering from brain surgery. Do you really think I was going to tell you that Jo had a panic attack and ended up hooked up to fluids in the hospital?” He asks as if I am the crazy one.“Yeah,” I say, grabbing my phone and dialing Jo’s number. She answers almost on the first ring.“I am sorry, I am so sorry, I really am sorry,” she says as she answers, and I feel my heart beating so fast I can’t even cope with it. I place one hand over my chest where my beating heart is and take a deep breath.“No,
Layla POV “What are you doing?” I ask as Richard blindfolds me and guides me to the car. I smile as he places one hand on my lower back while the other holds my hand. “Come on, where are we going?” I ask but again all I get is a small kiss on the lips after we are inside the car. The drive takes more than one hour. I have no clue where we are now. There are so many places that he could’ve taken me in one hour or so. When the car comes to a stop and Richard helps me out of the car I feel the cold wind blow and I realize we are somewhere open, without buildings or trees. My hair flies in every direction and I bet I will look like I have a helmet on my head. “Where are you taking me?” I ask at the same time he scoops me off the floor. I let out a small squeal as I feel him going upstairs. Where the hell are we? “Good evening Mr. Ashford” I hear someone say.
Richard POV“I can’t believe this is actually happening” I let out and Dylan smiles as he adjusts my butterfly tie. I take a deep breath and I have to say I am nervous as hell. The door opens and Fred walks through the door.“Hey, how are you feeling, old man?” He asks before he pours himself a glass of champagne. I shrug my shoulders and Dylan looks at Fred shaking his head.“He is nervous as fuck” he says and Fred laughs as he crosses his legs.“I bet you are, after all, it’s the second time you're doing this,” Fred says and I shake my head focusing on his face.“Third,” I say and his mouth opens wide and Dylan frowns looking at me.
Richard POV“Richard, you have your mother on line two,” I hear Esther say through the intercom. I sit back in my chair, lifting the phone from its stand and pressing line two. I have to prepare myself for this mentally. “Mother,” I can hear the back noise. I can tell she is not home, but that woman is so productive during the day that she would have to be sick to be home, almost dying. I have never seen her just staying at home. She is always out, full of appointments and commitments. She could easily be busier than the first lady. “Ricky, I am near your office today for a meeting. Join me for lunch”, she says straight away, and I roll my eyes, looking at my watch. It’s only nine in the morning. As much as I would like to say no to her, I wouldn’t dare. The woman is a bloody saint, and it doesn’t really hurt to have lunch with her. The only thing she tends to do is pry into my love life. Or better saying my non existing love life. "I'm having Esther arrange a table at your favorit
Richard POV“Dylan, I fucked up. I need your help”, she says, striding to the chair in front of him while he goes wide-eyed and tries to signal her to shut up. I clear my throat, and my daughter’s panicked eyes meet mine.“Shit,” she curses under her breath.“Language,” I blurt out, and she stands up immediately. I’m not close to Mia, which is all my fault. Whenever she needs something, she always asks Dylan. She has a connection with him that I could never form with her. I was twenty when I got Pamela pregnant. We were in college, and I owned up to my mistake. I decided if I was mature enough to get a girl pregnant, I had to deal with the consequences.“Dad, I can explain,” she says. I raise my hand, and she stops speaking automatically. Her eyes meet the floor, and I walk to her.“Ricky, come on, man,” Dylan says. I look at him, and he immediately raises both his hands in an apologetic way. He stands from his chair and walks around, kissing Mia on the top of her head before exiting
Layla POV“Are you shitting me right now?” I curse out loud as I look in the full-body mirror to see that I ripped my favorite tights all the way from the toes to the middle of my thighs. “Argh,” I said in frustration before taking them off again and throwing them into the trash.I walk back to the drawers where my lingerie and tights are. I open the middle drawer and start moving around, looking for another one, but I can’t find any. “Fucking great,” I curse, walking out of my room and knocking next door into Jo’s room.“Jo, open up,” I say as I pound on the door, and she opens it, one eye still closed and messy hair in front of her face.“Who died?” she asks, and I walk past her into the bedroom.“Hey, Leo,” I say as I walk past the bed and into the small closet she has at the end of her room.“Hey, Layla,” Leo says, pulling his head out of the covers and watching me walk around in his girlfriend’s bedroom half-naked.“What are you looking for?” Jo asks before she jumps back in bed
Layla POVIt’s finally the weekend, and I can’t wait but to relax. I am wearing my most comfortable yoga pants with an oversized t-shirt that hits me almost on my knees. I am lazily lying down on the couch watching tv when Jo comes out of her room with tears in her eyes.“That bastard,” she curses, sitting on the end of the couch, moving my feet and resting them on her legs. I raise an eyebrow, looking at her, and she takes a deep breath, cleaning her tears with the back of her sleeve.“We’re going out,” she says, and I can’t help but laugh out loud. She must be on drugs or something. There’s no way in hell I am going out tonight. She looks at me, and it seems like she is reading my mind.“Come on, Layla, I need this,” she says, and I sit up on the couch, moving my knees against my chest and hugging my legs as I look at her.“And why is that?” I ask, and she bites her lower lip, looking at me. I keep looking at her, waiting for the bomb to drop. And fuck me, and it does drop.“I caugh